Part 150: Hexer

I'll be 100% honest, I don't think anyone really cares about these intro bits, so I'll just sum up classes from here on out. Hexers are the disable class--they focus on inflicting binds and ailments while having access to a few debuffs and some really situational-yet-still-useless skills. They're fantastic not just for the variety of methods they have for disabling enemies, but also because of their Force Boost and Force Break, which triple the chance of binds/ailments landing, and force all disables to last one extra turn, respectively.


Stats

Level 1
HP: 26
TP: 48
STR: 4
TEC: 8
VIT: 5
AGI: 6
LUC: 10

Level 50
HP: 187
TP: 334
STR: 16
TEC: 33
VIT: 19
AGI: 29
LUC: 39

Level 99
HP: 445
TP: 623
STR: 30
TEC: 62
VIT: 36
AGI: 57
LUC: 74

Innate equipment choices: Staff

Innate armor choices: Clothes

Common passives: HP Up, TP Up, Curb ATK Up, Curb DEF Up, Chop

Hexers have an abundance of TP and LUC, decent TEC, above-average AGI, and crappy everything else. The only stat they really care about is LUC, since that's what's considered for inflicting ailments.


Curse Mastery
Requirements: None



Required to learn curse skills. Passively increases the base infliction chances of curse skills.


Sapping Curse
Requirements: Curse Mastery level 1
Body parts used: Head



Reduces all enemies' physical/elemental attack for a set number of turns. Has a 150% speed modifier at all levels.

I don't really think a lot of attack debuffs/defense buffs, mostly because they don't do a ton relative to the amount of skill points you have to put into them, and they really suck at lower levels. You're investing 10 skill points (1 for the mastery, 9 to max out the skill) to reduce damage by a mere 20%, and then using a Grimoire slot to reduce by 30%.


Frailty Curse
Requirements: Curse Mastery level 1
Body parts used: Head



Reduces all enemies' physical/elemental defense for a set number of turns. Has a 150% speed modifier at all levels.

Basically an all-party attack buff that doesn't use up a buff slot. Not really of much use if you already have a Troubadour or Sovereign, but if your Hexer runs out of things to do, there's worse things they could do than buff up your party's damage just a little more.


Weakening Curse
Requirements: Sapping Curse level 5, Frailty Curse level 5
Body parts used: Head



Reduces all enemies' resistance to ailments/binds for a set amount of turns. Seems to be bugged, and either has a minuscule effect, or not effect at all. Has a 150% speed modifier at all levels.

Probably bugged. Pass.


Blinding/Madness Curse
Requirements: Curse Mastery level 3
Body parts used: Head



Attempts to inflict blind/panic on one row of enemies. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.

Blind is traditionally looked down upon as an ailment that doesn't do much. Honestly, though, given how few enemies resist blind and the fact that barely any of them are immune, it's an easy way to take the sting out of almost any monster. Just be careful that you're not dealing with something that has increased base accuracy on skills.

Panic is obviously a fantastic ailment since it's effectively a silence. Accordingly, quite a few enemies resist panic more than other ailments (although few outright nullify it), but if you can land it, you get at least two turns to do whatever you want.


Venom Curse
Requirements: Curse Mastery level 3
Body parts used: Head



Attempts to inflict poison on one row of enemies. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.

Great for clearing out random encounters for a good portion of the game, mostly because almost no enemies resist or nullify poison. In boss fights, kind of eh after Chimaera.


Torpor/Corrupt Curse
Requirements: Blinding Curse level 2, Venom Curse level 2 (Torpor Curse); Venom Curse level 2, Madness Curse level 2 (Corrupt Curse)
Body parts used: Head



Attempts to inflict sleep/curse on one row of enemies. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.

Sleep is a fantastic ailment for random encounters once you hit the late/postgame, since it deprives enemies of, at the minimum, one turn, and amplifies damage dealt by your physical attackers.

Curse, on the other hand, sucks a ton. Its only use is cheese strats and getting conditional drops that require it.


Cranial/Abdomen/Immobile Curse
Requirements: Curse Mastery level 5
Body parts used: Head



Attempts to bind one enemy's head/arms/legs. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.

Maxing out ALL of the bind curses takes a hell of a lot of skill points (5 for the mastery + 9 to get each of them to 10 = 32 total), but it's very worth it if you're partnering a Hexer with a Dark Hunter. If you're not, maxing out Cranial and Abdomen Curse is generally pretty worth it, while Immobile Curse can generally be ignored.


Evil Eye
Requirements: Curse Mastery level 10
Body parts used: Head



Attempts to inflict fear on one row of enemies. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.

Fear is a slightly special ailment. I don't have a lot to say about enemy resistances to it on the whole, but what I can say is that while fear is a chance for an enemy to not act, it also lets you control enemies through the three skills listed below.


Shielding Word
Requirements: Evil Eye level 1
Body parts used: Head



Targets one enemy. If that enemy is afflicted with fear, it will protect the party from a set number of instances of damage for one turn. Does nothing if the target is not afflicted with fear. Costs 5 TP at all levels.

The worst of the fear-controlling skills, especially since it does absolutely nothing in boss fights. I miss the first Evil Eye control skill in EOU, where it both guaranteed an enemy wouldn't act, and amplified all damage to them for one turn.


Conflict Word
Requirements: Evil Eye level 5
Body parts used: Head



Targets all enemies. If an enemy is afflicted with fear, they will attack another random enemy in the battle. If the enemy is alone, it will attack itself once. The damage is based on the enemy's stats, and does not have a damage type. Does nothing if an enemy is not afflicted with fear.

Solidly mediocre. Doesn't do a ton if it's just one enemy, and doesn't even do much more if there's more than one enemy.


Suicide Word
Requirements: Evil Eye level 10
Body parts used: Head



Targets one enemy. If the enemy is afflicted with fear, the target will attack itself a set amount of times on that turn. The damage is based on the enemy's stats, and does not have a damage type. Does nothing if the target is not afflicted with fear.

The best of the fear-controlling skills, mostly because it does more damage than the others. It was considerably better in EOU, where enemy HP totals were quite a bit lower, with the damage staying about the same as it is here. Still, if you're relying on fear, it's in your best interests to drop some points in Suicide Word.


Sacrifice
Requirements: HP Up level 5
Body parts used: Head



Instantly kills one party member. The instant death bypasses all resistance checks--the only way to block it is Fairy Robe. Deals ranged TEC-based Almighty to all enemies. The damage is multiplied by the percentage of the party member's maximum HP they had before death. Also attempts to transfer any ailments and binds the party member had at death to all enemies. Has a 50% speed modifier at all levels, and does not check for accuracy.

One of the most niche skills in the entire game. Good luck making any use of it if you're not doing some ridiculous strategy focused around it!


Reincarnate
Requirements: Sacrifice level 5
Body parts used: Head



Attempts to revive all dead party members. Inflicts fear on revived party members. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels.

A multi-target revive is not worth it both being unreliable and inflicting fear on revived party members. Pass.


Life Trade
Requirements: HP Up level 10
Body parts used: Head



Deals ranged TEC-based Almighty damage to all enemies. Heals the party for 25% of the damage dealt. The damage is the base damage multiplied by the party's current average percentage of their maximum HP. Barbaric March and Transform do not count for changing this multiplier. Has an 80% speed modifier at all levels. Will always miss if the party is at greater than or equal to 100% maximum HP--otherwise, does not check for accuracy.

Again, a really niche skill, especially if your party has one specific person (a Beast, namely) tanking damage.


Chained Benefit
Requirements: Curb ATK Up level 10
Body parts used: Head



Binds the user's arms and legs. On the next turn, increases the chance of the user inflicting ailments and binds. Has no speed modifier at all levels.

I'd say Chained Benefit is good, but the leg bind is a serious strike against it. Disables are things you want going as soon as possible, and leg binds seriously hinder that. All it takes to negate that, however, is a Leg Guard, meaning that it'll only bind your Hexer's arms, which is so irrelevant it's almost funny.


Creeping Curse
Force Boost

Triples the base chances of ailment/bind inflicting skills. Pauses duration of debuffs on enemies.

One of the most powerful Force Boosts in the entire game. Tripling the base chance of landing disables means even enemies with 25% resistances to a given disable are pretty likely to be hit by it.


Black Mist
Force Break
Body parts used: Head

Forces all ailments/binds on enemies at cast time to last one more turn.

A powerful Force Break that comes at the cost of losing Creeping Curse for the rest of the fight.